What Could Have Been
by Salem14
Summary: It's 20 years after the war and Hermione is raising her four kids alone, but when her second daughter finds herself on the Hogwarts Express seated next to none other than Scorpius Malfoy, Hermione looks back on what could have been


She was born on a rainy Saturday in January, her skin white as snow, like both of her parents, the tone promising to be kissed (and burned) by the sun so leave freckles dancing upon her skin, she would loath those. She surprisingly or not so surprisingly (when you look at her mother) had a mop of dark brown curly hair atop of her head. She got the color from her father and she loathed it, he liked it to be a deep brown like the color of a delicious chocolate frog, she fancied it to be the color of gross, dirty, disgusting mud; they didn't like that word. Her curls and eyes though were most definitely her mothers, hazel orbs and thick unmanageable curls. Her cheeks were rosy and her lips a deep cherry red. She was their third child, Albus and Lily were two and four years older than her but they still fancied her none the less. She would grow up with the determination of their mother, not to mention her brain, and their fathers awkward almost modest charm. When she was old enough to hide on her own she'd watch from the cupboards when mum's friends were over and they'd share tea or butter beer, it was always one of three sets: Luna and Theo, Aunt Gin and uncle Neville, or Mr. Ron and Mrs. Lavender, but after dad died and left mum with a new baby boy, it was usually Mr. Ron. James would be given to Lily or Albus to watch and the seven year perfect mixture of the brilliant potters would sit silently in the cupboards while mummy talked to Mr. Ron.

From what she gathered mummy and Mr. Ron were very good friends and missed daddy very much, but after a while, Mr. Ron would talk about Misses Lavender in a mean way that shocked the girl, he'd call her rotten names and then one day she heard the red headed meanie say this, "Mione, I never understood how you bunked with that wench! Or how you ended up with four kids and Harry!"

Pip sat there staring at her mum and this man.

"Ron you know as well as I do that bunking with her was NO easy task and as for Harry well I don't know... I mean you just left and Harry was there it was comfortable and warm.." Mum drawled. "It should've been us hermione..." The man stated flatly as Pip narrowed her eyes. "Come now Ron there's no need to dwell on the past I've got four kids now, the first of which is just starting his first year I can't think about this now." Mum looked worried.

"Marry me Mione." The man stood causing a blank state and a 'what' to be mouthed in shock as a seven year old Pip screamed the same word.

"WHAT?!" Her head hit the top of the cupboard. "Ow..." The two adults stood looking around. "Piper?" Mum asked wearily. Piper slowly scooted out of the cupboard, rubbing her head. "Piper what did you hear?" Hermione begged. "Enough! I don't want to be a Weasel mum I don't want to! What about dad mum?! I miss dad I don't want a new one I want mine back!" She sobbed.

Ron stood shocked, staring at a brunette Hermione who had, for a seven year old seemed far past the intellect or stealth that he had at 27, let alone then or at her age. "She definitely is your kid Mione..." Ron forced a chuckle. Hermione offered the boy a half hearted smile and brought her daughter into her arms and carried her upstairs.

Piper didn't see much of Mr. Ron after that. Piper's name had been based on an old muggle character who wore long striped socks and went as Pippy, so Piper went as Pip and when she found out about the socks, she took quite a liking to them. And she grew as one might expect the middle child of Hermione Granger to grow up, surrounded by books. After being caught in the cupboard Piper wanted to learn all about the power she felt and when she learned of a silencing charm she nearly fell in love, she was quite cunning you know. James was five years younger than Piper, but she looked after him like a lioness to her cub, he was always by her side with a book and when Albus had brought home a broom, Piper and James practiced what they had read and took it for a spin one night, they'd both been natural, just like their father. Piper, despite loving her younger brother was still the middle child and as such felt herself being left out most often, she'd taken to muggle culture quite well, indulging in movie upon movie and book upon book with her brother, now six as they spent one of their last nights together before she was sent off to Hogwarts. She knew Albus and Lili of course and there was Teddy and Rose and Victoire, but they were all older than her, Albus had been a proud Gryffindor and Lily as well although you could tell she was whispering to the hat to only be considered for that house, she wasn't as into books as Piper, or as stealthy, or as capable of having such a compassionate relationship as Piper had with James, she just was, she was brilliant of course but neither of their parents ever did have any common sense, she just was and what she was was a beautiful third year with long straight auburn hair and dark brown eyes, she was a heartbreaker ALREADY. Piper didn't have looks to fall back on and she wasn't sure just what house she WANTED to be sorted into, each house had a special skill or trait and if Piper wanted to she could be all of them... Not that the school would allow that. Now her mother new of what was going through her head, as stubborn and isolated from her mother as she was, she was nearly a carbon copy of the muggle born witch and she could read her like a book and that's why a week before taking Pip to 9 3/4 when she had to go get the girl classes, she understood her less than ecstatic attitude. The 11 year old played with the large round lenses in a mirror as her mother came up behind her.

"I look stupid" the young witch sighed. "You look beautiful" her mother cooed. She stared at the mirror... This was going to be a tough year. "Mom you're a great witch... Can't you just fix my eyes?" Her voice cracked. "No honey I'm sorry" Her mothers lip placed a soft kiss atop of her daughters head.

The next few days were a blur, her books had been read and packed in a small sack that held her soft sweaters and hoodies, muggle made of course, her school books she had shrunk with her new wand, it contained unicorn hair and that made Piper internally happy in a way that she didn't understand, she was just happy thinking about it. A few quills and parchment were packed as well full of promises to write to her brother as soon as she could. She had even hidden her fathers old gryffindor quidditch jersey that she had found in a small box in the crawl space of their Godric's Hollow home. It was full of visitors, Rose had come to chat with Lily and that meant Mr. Ron had dropped her off, James and Piper had found an odd blanket that made them invisible in the same box and they sat in the kitchen as their parents talked.

"You know there's a Malfoy going to Hogwarts this year." He ranted. James and Pip mouthed the name to each other, they'd read it before but they didn't understand what that meant, Pip thought all the bad ones were dead. "Oh hush Ron you know Draco isn't his father and I'm sure his-"

"His spawn is a boy a first year, going in with Piper."


End file.
